Breathe
Breathe is a survival video game designed by George Alder, developed by NCS West Coast and published by NINE100 Studios. It was released on March 7th, 2017 for the Anima and Microsoft Windows. The game takes place in North America following a large-scale chemical war, where an unnamed choking agent lingers throughout near all of the inhabited continent. The game follows two characters throughout the story, Alice Evelyn and Samantha Walker, two survivors of the North American chemical bombings originally based in Seattle. The story takes place through numerous cities over a long period of time, fully presenting the two characters' strong bond and their growing survival instincts. The setting of the game is presented more realistically than common post-apocalyptic games. Instead of features enemies such zombies or mutants, all the enemies faced in the game are humans or normal animals. With all the antagonists of the game being human, it allows for more human interaction between them and the protagonists, which would likely be absent with mutated enemies. Gameplay Breathe is played from a third-person perspective, although it distances itself from being labelled as a third-person shooter. Ammo is largely scarce and the player will only ever find a couple of working weapons throughout the game. The combat gameplay, in this regard, is predominantly stealth and melee based, with temporary weapons, such as wooden boards, scattered around the game. There is also a heavy focus on scavenging, looking for supplies such as food, water, gas mask cartridges and ammunition. There are a lot of supplies hidden of the main path of the story, encouraging further exploration of the game, although these areas will sometimes hold extra enemies. While the game features two equally major protagonists, it is exclusively single-player throughout the game. The player will control Alice throughout the game, and Samantha is controlled with intelligent AI to act like a real-life player. The player can control Samantha, to some extent, by giving her various orders, an important mechanic in the combat. For example, the player can order Samantha to flank an enemy and attack him from behind, allowing Alice to follow up with a killing blow. This tactical advantage and co-ordination the player has is one of the more advantageous parts of combat, as their constant lack of ammo will not allow them to take most enemies on in a gun fight. With the lingering gases in near all locations the player will explore, one of the most important pieces of equipment in the game is the gas mask, which is used in all gaseous areas. The gas mask is not permanently effective, and the player will have to keep supply of gas mask cartridges to allow for immediate changing when the ones in use are about the fail. To prevent frustrating deaths, finding a cartridge will also provide Samantha with one, and they always change cartridges at the same time, meaning Samantha won't randomly die. The player will also be informed when their cartridge is about to run out. The game is a linear story, but the developers made sure the locations in the game were large enough to explore far off the main path. The player will often discover large side-paths, comparable to full segments of gameplay, that are completely optional. The side-paths will often contain extra supplies, but will have to usually deal with battling extra enemies, providing risk instead of just handing the player easy extra supplies. The side-paths vary in how hidden they are and what you will find there, with the more secret paths generally providing greater rewards. Side paths will almost always have at least one gas mask cartridge, as the player will have to spend more time exploring them. Plot Setting Breathe takes place in several locations across the United States and Canada, a couple of years after a huge number of chemical bombings struck North America. The survivors of the bombings are forced to fight for supplies and their lives in a dangerous, chemical-ridden continent. The two protagonists are not part of any survivor group or gang, preferring to go it by themselves. The story begins in Seattle, the original hometown of Alice and Samantha. Most of the characters they come across are hostile, but also trying to survive in the world. While there are a few clean places, the majority are still dangerous to travel without proper equipment, and the survivors left know that this equipment is more valuable than almost anything else. Story N/A Development Trailers */Wake Up Trailer/ Category:900bv Category:NINE100 Studios Category:NCS West Coast Category:Breathe (series) Category:Survival games